Australians are advised to avoid fake crypto paper wallets on the street. It has been claimed that scammers have put fake crypto paper wallets in public locations to con Australians out of their cryptocurrency.
The New scam
Australians have been cautioned to avoid suspicious-appearing fraudulent Bitcoin paper wallets that trick users into accessing a good crypto wallet but eventually deplete their cryptocurrency holdings. A Nov. 22 post (1) on the NSW Police Force's Facebook page claims that the fraud begins with a paper cryptocurrency wallet with a QR code designed to seem like a genuine Bitcoin paper wallet.
🚨 SCAM ALERT 🚨 NSW Police have received a number of reports from members of the community who have been scammed by...
Posted by NSW Police Force on Tuesday, November 22, 2022
Scammers scatter these in open spaces like parks or streets. A person who finds Upon scanning the QR code on the paper wallet, the user is instructed to open a website to access a cryptocurrency wallet with up to 16,000 Australian dollars ($10,000). The user is then required to pay a withdrawal charge and enter the password for their cryptocurrency wallet to move the sum there.
What should be done if one is encountered?
According to the NSW police, Once the withdrawal charge is paid and the person's crypto wallet information is supplied, the person's bitcoin is taken from their crypto wallet. The authorities have warned the public to be cautious, and anyone who finds a paper cryptocurrency wallet like this has been instructed not to try to scan the QR code, access the account or provide any personal information.
They should give up the wallet to the police station close by. This is not the first paper crypto wallet fraud to occur in Australia. A Reddit user started a thread over three months ago (2) claiming to have discovered a paper cryptocurrency wallet and labeling it as potentially fraudulent.
Paper wallet found in the streets, pretty sure its a scam. Anybody else seen these? The wallet looks very polished etc. from CryptoScamReport
Numerous additional individuals answered with their accounts of discovering paper cryptocurrency wallets on the street, at the beach, and in parks. Because they could see the wallet address and the transactions on-chain, one user, Pennymc, said they nearly fell for it. They said that the webpage likewise seemed legitimate. Pennymc (3) claims that they were suspicious due to the 0.5% transaction charge.
I could withdraw and complete the transaction if this were a legitimate wallet. The fee is deducted from the remaining amount. This seems so authentic; it's such a shame," the user remarked. According to statistics from the Australian consumer watchdog's Scamwatch website (4), Australians have already shown themselves to be particularly vulnerable to investment and cryptocurrency-related scams this year, losing 242.5 million Australian dollars to con artists thus far in 2022. The nation's federal law enforcement agency has also called attention to the illegal usage of cryptocurrencies as a "growing menace." Still, it claims it is difficult to keep up with offenders who frequently alter their strategies.
